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Ten Open Source Tools Which Will Transform Your Library and Your Library Budget*

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Ten Open Source Tools Which Will Transform Your Library and Your Library Budget* David Hughes Systems Librarian Dublin Business School * Free and Open Source Software You Can Think About Using in Your Library So, What Is Open Source Software? History -1 1980s Four Software Freedoms: Freedom to run a program for any purpose Freedom to study the mechanics of the program and modify it Freedom to redistribute copies Freedom to improve and change modified versions for public use History - 2 1990s History - 3 Rebranding (1998) + Open Source Initiative Eric S. Raymond and others Non-profit Promote open source software Pragmatic, business friendly approach “to dump the moralizing and confrontational attitude that had been associated with 'free software'" and instead promote open source ideas on "pragmatic, business-case grounds” – Michael Tiemann Acronyms OSS – Open Source Software F(/)OSS – Free & Open Source Software FLOSS – Free/Libre Open Source Software "Near as I can figure ... people think they’d be making an ideological commitment ... if they pick 'open source' or 'free software'. Well, speaking as the guy who promulgated 'open source' to abolish the colossal marketing blunders that were associated with the term 'free software', I think 'free software' is less bad than 'FLOSS'. Somebody, please, shoot this pitiful acronym through the head and put it out of our misery.“ – Eric S. Raymond Acronyms are used interchangeably A Distinction Without a Difference? Activist Pragmatist “Open source is a development methodology; free software is a social movement” – Richard Stallman ‘…despite philosophical differences, proponents of open source and free software "often work together on practical projects.“’ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_Source_Initiative Free Software Foundation 4 freedoms Software made available with source code Anyone, for any purpose, can study, change, and distribute the software on any platform Open Source Initiative Definition Free Redistribution of program Source Code included Derived Works must be allowed Integrity of The Author's Source Code* No Discrimination Against Persons or Groups No Discrimination Against Fields of Endeavour Distribution of License License Must Not Be Specific to a Product License Must Not Restrict Other Software License Must Be Technology-Neutral * Modification may not be permitted under specific circumstances/derived works may require a different name https://opensource.org/osd Practical Differences Free Software Foundation No Restrictions Open Source “You can look at the source code” May prevent modification Also “Tivoization”: hardware blocks execution of modified programs “Nearly all open source software is free software, but there are exceptions” Is a program “free” or “open source” – check the license! A Disclaimer Open ≠ Free 1) ‘To understand the concept, you should think of “free” as in “free speech,” not as in “free beer”’ – Richard Stallman 2) “Support for openness usually requires people, and they are often the most expensive component” - Martin Weller Why Use Free/Open Source? Free! Lower costs No lock-in “Real-time” modification Better quality Better security Better privacy Modify and adapt A Brief Note on Quality But only if the eyeballs are paying attention A Brief Note on Security Digital Rights Management World-Wide Web Consortium (W3C) “Encrypted Media Extensions” “Anti-Circumvention” Laws https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2016/04/standardized-drm-will- make-us-less-safe A Brief Note on Security 2 http://www.cfr.org/privacy/protecting-data-privacy-user-friendly- software/p37551 A Brief Note on Privacy http://www.wired.co.uk/article/avg-privacy- policy-browser-search-data 18/09/15 A Brief Note on Privacy 2 https://www.statnews.com/2016/03/08/health- apps-sell-medical-data/ 08/03/16 Why Not Use Free/Open Source? Hidden Costs Support Set up Hosting User friendliness Developer driven Vulnerabilities But… You may be using open source software already Open Source & Libraries Why? More Why Open Access Open Education Resources Open Scholarship …Open Source Open Source fits well with Library Philosophy and Values Yet More Why Diversity of the Library sofware ecosystem Proprietary systems Open source systems Keeps vendors honest http://librarytechnology.org/Mergers/ Last Why Everybody wins! Activist: Using FOSS is kicking back against neoliberalism/the commodification of the information profession Pragmatist: using FOSS is sound business sense The Open Source Library 10 Software Systems – 1. Firefox Browser Mozilla Foundation (non-profit) Derived from Netscape Navigator Rich collection of extensions Download and run Mozilla Public License 2.0 Recommended Extensions 1a. Tor Browser “The Onion Router” US Naval Research Laboratory Anonymous Web Browsing Modified Firefox Download and run Tor License (BSD) 2. LibreOffice - Office Application Suite Word Processor / Spreadsheet/ Presentation / Drawing / Formula Editor / Database Manager ODF format (ISO standard) Supports Microsoft Office formats Default Office suite of most Linux distributions Now recommended for UK government use Download and run Mozilla Public License 2.0 3. Koha - LMS Created in 1999 in New Zealand “Gift” in Maori (one of the original developers is Maori) Access by web browser (optimised for Firefox!) Large user base Installation required GNU General Public License version 2 (GPL 2) Koha Features Tagging, comments, sharing RSS feeds Book covers Cataloguing templates Z39.50 Off-line circulation Browse virtual shelf Integration with EBSCO Discovery Service Alternatively… Georgia Public Libraries Service 2006 “stable, robust, flexible, secure, and user-friendly” Browser-based Uses same technology (XULRunner) as Firefox Smaller user base than Koha “consortia of small to midsized public libraries” Installation required GNU General Public License version 2 (GPL 2) Evergreen Features Book reviews RSS feeds Facet searching Book covers Browse virtual shelves Watch This Space https://americanlibrariesmagazine.org/2016/04/22/ebsco-kuali-open- source-project/ 4. Repository Software MIT/HP Labs 2002 Open Access Repositories Cross-platform PDF, Word, Image files Customisable Installation required DSpace License Alternatively… Developed by University of Southampton PDF, HTML, JPEG, TIFF, MP3, and AVI Perl plugins Authority files Integration with SHERPA/RoMEO for quickly checking publisher policies and author rights Installation required GNU General Public License (version 3) Or… “Digital asset management architecture” DuraSpace (non-profit) Store all kinds of content and metadata Multiple front-ends Hydra Islandora Installation required Apache License 2.0 5. Digital Collection Management Roy Rosenzweig Center for History & New Media at George Mason University “Repository-Lite” Publish and exhibit digital objects Themes and plugins Dublin Core metadata Installation required GNU General Public Licence Omeka @DBS Alternatively New York software development team/US & European partner institutions Main focus on cataloguing and data management Separate web access application Plugins and customisation GNU General Public Licence 6. Library Discovery Tool Villanova University 2010 Google-like interface Modular and configurable Faceted search API to connect to EBSCO Discovery GNU General Public Licence Alternatively University of Virginia/Stanford University OPAC replacement/enhancement Faceted Search Part of Hydra Project (Fedora) API to connect to EBSCO Discovery Installation required Apache License 2.0 An Aside: 7. Content Management System Joyner Library, East Caroline University, Ithaca College Library, University of Miami Libraries Open Source equivalent of LibGuides Fully customisable A to Z database list, staff list FAQs Summon integration Installation required GNU General Public Licence Alternatively… Dries Buytaert 2001 Used as back-end framework for >2% of websites 1 million member community, 30,000 developers Installation required GNU General Public Licence Or… 2005 fork of Mambo 2nd most used Content Management System used on web Installation required GNU General Public Licence 8. Zotero – Reference Management Roy Rosenzweig Center for History & New Media at George Mason University (again) 2006 Firefox add-on (standalone version 2011) Online synching Generation of in-text citations, footnotes and bibliographies Integrates with word processing software (Relatively) easy to write connectors Download and run Affero General Public License 9. MRBS – Room Booking Meeting Room Booking System Daniel Gardner 2000 Browser based Different authority levels Integrate with authentication systems (e.g LDAP, Shibboleth) Installation required GNU General Public Licence Alternatively Ball State University 2010 Web-based LDAP authentication “Well-written” & “aesthetically pleasing” Installation required GNU General Public Licence 3.0 10. LORLS – Reading List Software Loughborough University (Gary Brewerton) 2000 ‘Bibgrab’ citation capture applet Integrates with OPAC Installation required GNU General Public Licence But Wait, There’s More! Guide on the Side And More! https://foss4lib.org/ The Benefits of Open-Source Innovation Own* not Licence Customisation Interoperability Community Security Privacy *How easy would it be for you to switch your LMS? Is Open Source for ? Yes! Easier for bigger libraries, but.. Smaller libraries Develop a business case Forge relationships (NETWORK!): IT department Other libraries Hosting Download and run Internal hosting External hosting Thank You! Resources - 1 General Free Software Foundation https://fsfe.org/index.en.html
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